Creative Balance
I’ve been thinking about a number of topics to write on. Topics relating to photography, design, programming, or even writing (as awkwardly meta as that is). I had a realization though, through all of these there’s a sort of thread, and challenge. The better and more comfortable I become the more difficult it is to maintain the ability to have the spontaneous, wonderful accidents that can happen when you have no idea what you’re doing.
I’m always striving to figure out what my voice is (cliché, yes, but true), and I’m starting to realize that it’s impossible to find without venturing out from time to time and exploring the edges. I find it easy to sit in the center where I’m comfortable, but the most exhilarating experiences happen when I’m a little off balance, pushed a little harder than I like. So I’ll walk out of the house for the day with a lens on my camera that I don’t usually use. I’ll shut off the computer and sit down with a pen and paper to write. I’ll try a new language. Something at least a little off my well worn path.
I think as paradoxical as it sounds, when I schedule time or an activity to break my routine it lets me grow directions I wouldn’t have otherwise. Stagnation can certainly easily be mistaken for comfortable efficiency.